20th Annual Iranian Film Festival

The Annual Iranian Film Festival, now in its 20th year, brings some of the best in recent Middle Eastern cinema to Houston for a two-week stint. Till Schauder's The Iran Job screens on January 20. The documentary follows Kevin Sheppard, an American basketball player who joins an Iranian team in 2008. He tries to separate sports and politics, but finds that in Iran, Islam dictates even basketball (women are forbidden to watch some games, for example). A tall African American with a flashy style of play, Sheppard stands out on and off the court. Surrounded by anti-American propaganda and yet admired for his contribution to his team, Sheppard is befriended by a trio of women who enjoy his more open attitude towards them. Husband-and-wife filmmakers, director Till Schauder and producer Sara Nodjoumi will join the audience via Skype to discuss their experience making the film, including Schauder's detention and eventual blacklisting by Iranian authorities.